


The Lure

by Vinnocent



Series: Morphing Human [8]
Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate, Being Human (UK), Being Human (US/Canada)
Genre: Adolescent Sexuality, Blood and Gore, Brainwashing, Choking, Consent Issues, F/F, F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Panic Attacks, Psychological Trauma, Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-25
Updated: 2014-03-25
Packaged: 2018-01-17 00:17:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1366966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vinnocent/pseuds/Vinnocent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cassie and Rachel escort Ax to school as "Phillip" to help him learn more about human culture, but he's not the only student. It seems that Melissa Chapman has a new best friend, and everyone is just dying to meet her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Miss Thing (Rachel)

My name is Rachel. I'm an Animorph. Well, except without the morph. Which… I guess makes me without the "ani-" too? But I'm on the team and kicking Yeerk ass, which is what matters. What is a Yeerk? That's complicated, and, really, an unnecessary detail. The _really_ important thing is that Melissa has a new friend, and…

y'know…

I think Marco's right. We should definitely branch out more as a group. Stop with the suspicious clustering.

* * *

"There it is," Cassie said. "School. Or, as I like to think of it--" Someone passing by barked at Marco. Random students had begun to pick up the bullying tactic simply because Melissa's friends had made it the thing to do. "-- purgatory."

Marco leaned toward Jake and whispered, apparently thinking that he couldn't be heard, "D'ya still have that fire axe?" Jake gave him a sharp glare, and Marco leaned away again, smirking to show that he was joking.

"Are you sure we don't want to do give him the opportunity to Frolis more people?" I asked, gesturing to Ax. "He still looks a lot like Cassie and Marco specifically."

"Which is why he's going to be passing as my cousin, Phillip," Cassie said. "'Phillip' will go to all the same classes as me, which means that he won't have any with Marco. People will much more easily recognize and accept his similarity to me and write off any similarities to Marco by the time they notice."

"May I asssksss why I am -iyam yam- to be called 'Fil Ip'?" asked Ax.

Cassie shrugged. "It just seemed right."

"And it's Phillip," Marco corrected. "One word. Not two."

"You might wanna hold back on talking in general," Jake suggested.

"I can do human talking," "Phillip" protested.

"Okay, definitely no 'human' this or 'earth' that," said Marco.

"I know," he argued.

Marco rolled his eyes. "Well, then, practice with us."

"Why?" asked Phillip.

I glanced toward the school entrance and saw Melissa hanging out there. I waved. She didn't notice. That was odd. Melissa always noticed.

And then I noticed. There was a girl with Melissa that I hadn't seen before. At least I don't think I had? She was like… the epitome of average. She was barely noticeable. She was statistical. She was Arthur Dent.

I frowned and hopped off the low wall I'd been perched on. "Okay, well, I'm going to go hangout with my other friends instead of clustering in the exact way we're supposed to not."

"What?" said Marco. "But you're supposed to-- Hey!"

Ignoring him, I pushed through the growing crowd of incoming students to where I'd seen Melissa. By the time I got there, though, she and her friends were gone. I found myself more disappointed than I expected to be.

Cassie grabbed my shoulder. "Hey, you're sticking with me, and Phillip, remember?" she reminded me.

Oops. "Of course I do, but it's not like you need me twenty-four/seven," I said, grinning. "It's school. What's the worst that could happen?"

Cassie raised an eyebrow. "Are you feeling okay?"

"What? Yeah, why?"

"She is lying," said Ax, pointing at me, and I glared at him.

Cassie pulled his hand down. "We don't point, Phillip."

I stuck my tongue out at him, and he immediately mimicked me. Probably in an effort to figure out what I was doing it for. "Sometimes, buddy, you could stand to be slightly less Cassie-like."

"Hey!" she protested.

"I like one of you, but I don't need two," I continued teasing her. "Would you want him to be more Rachel-like?"

She thought about that, then tipped her head. "I see your point." She took Ax's hand. "Come on, Phillip. I need to go to my locker."

"Where do the small doors lead?" Ax asked as Cassie pulled him carefully through throngs of kids. I simply shoved aside anyone that got between me and them.

"Nowhere. Those are lockers," Cassie said. "Everyone has a locker. See? There's my locker right there." She stepped up to it and spun the lock.

"Is that a ritual?" I asked. "Chew-ull. Ritual."

I groaned and pulled at my hair. "Marco's gonna be mad if he keeps doing this…" I grumbled.

"Well, it was also the point of bringing him," Cassie hissed back. And then she smiled back at Ax. "No, it's a lock. It keeps people out."

"Why?" he pressed.

"So they won't steal my stuff." She opened her locker and started exchanging her books and notebooks.

"What is that?" he asked. "Thuh-at. That."

I tried to see what he was talking about, but she quickly shut her locker again. "It's just a picture," Cassie said.

"It looked like a picture of Jake," he insisted. "Why would you have a picture of him when he is right here and you can see him?"

"What?" I asked, suddenly interested. 

"Y'know, I think they're right, Phillip," Cassie said suddenly. "You might learn more if you… observe… quietly."

"Now, Cassie," I said, "You know there's no such thing as a stupid question! We should encourage inquisitive minds in an educational environment!"

Cassie blushed and looked at the ground. "We should get to first period," she said, hefting her backpack onto her shoulder.

Almost on cue the bell rang loudly, and Ax reacted almost violently. He spun around, raised his arms in defense. I quickly pulled them down again, nearly knocking the poor kid over. He still wasn't used to the whole bipedal thing. "A-- Phillip. You need to calm down," I hissed in warning.

The bell rang again.

"That noise!" he cried. "What kind of beast is it?"

Cassie was trying hard not to laugh. "It's not a creature. It's a bell," I told him. "It's telling us that it's time to hurry to first period. Now, come on." She took his hand again and lead him to Mr. Pardue's class as he was ordering everyone to their seats. As she took Ax up to Pardue for introductions, I made my way to our seats to secure one for Ax next to us so we could keep an eye on him.

"Sit here," Cassie directed Ax when they joined me.

But then, just before the door was about to be shut, Melissa's new friend showed up. She and the teacher just stood there for like three full seconds, staring at each other. Mr. Pardue looked like he was seeing a ghost for the first time. She was smiling up brightly at him.

"Hello, Mr. Pardue," she said at last. "I'll be joining your class today!"

"Oh… okay…"

She kept smiling. "I'll just sit over there, then."

"Okay…"

She nodded at him and took an empty seat on the other side of me from Cassie and Ax. "Hi, I'm Rachel," I said as Ax commented that his chair was uncomfortable.

"That's nice," she said, glancing at me. And then she glanced at me again. Then she seemed to take full measure of me before smiling brightly. "Hi, sorry, bit distracted. New to class and all. They're probably just going to rearrange me again, but I'm Jill. Has anyone talked to you about the Sharing?"

"No," I said without thinking, and Cassie punched me. At first, I was annoyed. Then, I was confused. Why would I say that? I giggled, self-consciously. "Sorry, I'm not really a joiner."

She glanced at Cassie and then back at me. "You know if you only do things that your friends want to do, doesn't that still make you a joiner?" She tucked a bit of hair behind her ear, and I noticed the expanse of her long neck. I swallowed down the eager whimpers that were threatening to emerge from my throat. "Give it a shot once," she suggested. "It can't hurt."

"Or it could," Ax grumbled, and Jill shot him a look.

"Quiet down back there!" Pardue demanded loudly.

She turned to me again. "I don't have a book. Can I look off yours?"

"Sure," I said, immediately pushing my desk closer to hers.

"Um, I'm closer, and I--" Bailey started to protest, but Jill just smiled at him.

"Are you? Sorry." And then she leaned over my desk and touched my hand to bring the book closer.

"Mr. Pardue, are you okay?" asked Cassie and only then did I realize that he was still having some kind of fit about noise or whatever.

"Okay?" Mr. Pardue demanded loudly. "Am I okay? Am I-- aaaaahhhhh!"

Suddenly, he fell onto his knees at the front of the classroom, crying out. Jill rolled her eyes as students rushed forward to help him. "That was fast," she said, getting up calmly as other students started rushing forward to help him.

Pardue was clawing at his ear. "Yeerk! Get out of me!" he screamed. I could smell the blood coming to the surface before it ever started staining his fingers.

Someone screamed in terror, but Jill touched them on the shoulder, and, I hate to admit it, but I felt a pang of jealousy. "It's alright," Jill told them. "Everything's going to be okay." And Jill touched every frightened or concerned student in turn, telling them that things were going to be okay and that they should go back to their seat. Those that didn't believe her immediately were passed off on those that did. Someone asked her if they should get Chapman, and she agreed.

Finally, she kneeled before the panicking man. She took his face in her hands and looked him in the eyes. "Now, now. You're fine, aren't you? You want to be fine for me, don't you? Let's find our peace together, shall we?"

The door burst open, and Chapman burst in. "All right, kids, everyone out," he snapped. "Everyone out to the playground. Out of the building. Mr. Pardue is just sick. He needs his medicine." He was already removing a metal cylinder from his pocket.

A lot of the kids got up and moved immediately, including Cassie and Ax. Cassie pulled on my arm. "Hey, Rachel. Rachel? He said to move." She glanced worriedly back at the dying Yeerk on the ground. "Now, isn't the time, Rachel…"

"But what if Jill needs me?" I asked.

"What if…?" She gaped at me. " _What_?"

Jill looked up from Mr. Pardue at the remaining students. She smiled. "Go on. Just like Mr. Chapman said. Everything is fine here. I promise. You trust me, don't you?"

And I did trust her. Absolutely.

I was so happy she knew that.


	2. pt. 2: Controller’s Advocate (Marco)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My name is Marco. Several months ago, I was a normal kid with a normal life in a normal world. Or at least I thought so. Turns out, my best friend was a vampire, his cousin had made my mom one as well and they’d helped her fake her death, and my planet was being invaded by brain-controlling space aliens. One of said space aliens is in said vampire-mother.
> 
> I didn’t know about all this until a different space alien crash landed in front of me and my friends and told us about about the whole invasion nonsense. And then he died. And then we tried to save my idiot best friend’s fake brother from being an alien slug puppet forever, but instead I just got clawed up by some werewolf, so now I am one. The real kicker is that said fake brother actually wants to be an alien slug puppet because he learned that my idiot best friend is a vampire.
> 
> Ain’t life grand?
> 
> You’d think, at this point, we would be all out of surprises.

_eee_

eeeeoooo

EEEEEOOOOO

I glanced out the window behind my desk and fell out when I saw an ambulance. "Marco! Pay attention!" Mr. Tidwell chastised. He mopped sweat off his forehead with his sleeve. Guy was seriously sick with something.

"Sir, there's an ambulance approaching the school."

"What?" Tidwell demanded. "Uh. Just… Just wait a second." And then he bolted out the door like a frightened rabbit.

I wasn't the first kid out the door after him, but I sure didn't stay behind. We also weren't the only class that had found our way into the halls, either. I saw Jake standing around. "Jake! What's going on?"

"Uh, it's Mr. Pardue," he said. "I think it's his hea _d_." And the way he said it made it entirely clear that Kandrona starvation had finally hit one of the Yeerks. Here, in public. It had been a month since we'd destroyed their local Kandrona, but when nothing became of it, Ax said they were probably ferrying Controllers back to the mothership. It would take a while, if ever, for the stress on their systems to show.

"Really?" I said, maybe a little more hopefully than I should have.

"Everyone go back to your classrooms," Chapman growled, barreling through the hallway.

My teacher just stood there gibbering. "But… But sir…!"

Chapman turned a vicious glare on him, but, oddly enough, it was a girl that addressed him. Just some other random girl from school. She looked like anyone else. I couldn't even remember if I'd seen her around or not. She took Tidwell's hands in hers and smiled up at him kindly. "Now, Mr. Tidwell, you wouldn't want to alarm your students with needless panic, would you?"

"Nn… n-n-n-no. Of course not. No."

"You know your friend is being taken care of," she told him. "Why don't you take some relaxing breaths and then return to class?"

Tidwell made a helpless sort of noise but then did as he was told. Exactly as he was told. It was downright creepy.

As teachers started rounding students up again, I caught Chapman asking her, "Don't you think that's a little public?"

She smiled brightly at him. "Isn't that the point?" She reached out to touch his arm reassuringly, and he recoiled.

"Don't you touch me," he snarled. "Don't you ever touch me." And then he turned and stormed back up the hall. She looked amused.

Jake gave me a helpless look as his teacher started direct him away. But then the worst thing happened. Chapman, in passing, grabbed Jake by the collar, telling his teacher that he was needed in the Vice Principal's office.

And then he did the same with me.

"What? No! What did I do?!" I was panicking. A Controller was demanding my attention in private. A big Controller. The Controller.

"Shut up," he snarled. He pulled us down one hall, down another, and then shoved us into his office. He was surprisingly strong. Though I guess not that surprising, considering the whole vampire thing.

He slammed the door shut behind us, turned on me, and shoved a finger in my face. "Sit!" he demanded.

I sat.

Look, I _know_ , but I there were only so many options, and it seemed like the best one. So, I took a chair.

He turned to Jake, who had already vamped out. Fully black eyes and sharp fangs. Chapman rolled his eyes. "Don't you even start with me," he snarled, and, confused, Jake went back to normal. "I don't like you, as you aware. I cannot even begin to articulate how much you owe to me."

Well,  _that_ was certainly an interesting revelation.

Jake nodded, wearing a sort of pout. "Yes, sir."

"But…" Chapman looked like he was facing a buffet of finely roasted cat turds for dinner. "If you do this for me,… we can… reconsider that."

That certainly had Jake's attention. "We can?" he said a bit too eagerly. I gave him a look, and he remembered who he was talking to. He cleared his throat and asked, "Do what for you?"

"You know that creature you saw out there?" Chapman demanded.

Jake and I exchanged confused glances. "You're going to have to be more specific," he said.

Chapman growled and gestured angrily at the door. "The goddamn hand-holding hippie wishing everyone peace and love!"

I snorted. "You need Jake to keep the hippies out?"

If looks could kill, I'd have burned up like a vampire in a pole-vaulting accident. "No," Hedrick snarled angrily, "I need Jacob, and... possibly... _you_ , to stop the actions of a Type 5."

Jake's eyebrows went up about as high as they could. "A… _What_?"

"Do you only know of the world what I bother to tell you?" Chapman demanded. Which was sort of relieving. If Chapman didn't tell Jake about invading space aliens, that meant he didn't think Jake knew about invading space aliens. "Get your head out of your ass, Jacob."

Jake just blinked at him. "Sorry?"

"A Type Five," Chapman repeated. "A succubus or incubus. In this case, the former. The child of a demon and a human. Her demon blood gives her allure to much of humanity and its kin. Her human flesh gives her the ability to hide among them safely. When their abilities are well-controlled by a knowledgeable succubus such as Jill, most people will do whatever she says just to make her happy. No matter what their personal will is."

"Wow, that must suck," I said.

Chapman ignored me. "She has a purpose here, but while she's here, she has also been recruiting. For the Sharing."

Jake swallowed. "I thought that was a community ser--"

"It's run by vampires," Chapman said as though this obviously revealed its true insidious nature. It was a good cover. Double cover. Very clever.

"Okay?" said Jake. "I still don't understand why--"

"She got Melissa," Chapman hissed. "Yesterday. It was the first fucking thing that she did in town, and I can't do a goddamn thing about it. So you're going to handle it for me."

Jake wasn't looking any less confused. "You… _don't_ want the princess inside the kingdom?"

Chapman seethed. "She was never supposed to be involved in any of this!"

"Uh, right… Yes, of course, sir." He didn't look like he was buying it.

"You get Melissa out of the Sharing and out from under Jill's thumb, and you and Rachel will be forgiven your trespasses," Chapman promised. " _But..._ if Melissa becomes a full member? If my involvement in this is at all revealed? If Jill consumes her?" He grabbed me up from the chair before I had a chance to escape, holding me by the throat off the floor as a demonstration to Jake. "I will force-feed _this_ to both you and your sister. Am I understood?"

"I don't have a sister," said Jake. "I have a cousin."

"Buddy, not the time," I choked.

Jake shrugged. "I just thought he should know by now."

Chapman threw me into Jake. Luckily, the boy's kind of squishy. "Leave now!" he commanded. Jake grabbed my arm and shoved me out the door ahead of him.

"Can we not talk about that?" I asked as he pulled me along the halls.

"Agreed." He glanced back at the door nervously. Of course, we would talk about it. We'd have to. But not here.

* * *

"It makes sense," I decided back at the barn after Cassie and Ax had explained the events of Mr. Pardue's class. "If the Yeerks are starting to crash, they want someone around who can handle it. Keep people calm instead of noticing all the wackiness."

Rachel nodded enthusiastically. "Jill _is_ really great at that!"

Tobias looked at her. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Never better!" she chirped. "Why?"

"Actually, she's been like this since Jill started talking to her in class," Cassie said. "They even shared a book."

That was definitely news. " _Rachel_ learned to share?" I snickered.

"I can be charitable!" Rachel protested. "I think its something Jill would appreciate seeing, anyway."

Jake's eyes went black. "I'm going to murder her," he decided.

Rachel immediately responded with the same transformation. "Murder _who_?" she demanded.

"Ixnay!" I warned Jake. We were not going to have a throwdown in the barn between two vampires. The last time they'd beat on each other, they'd broken _walls_.

Jake glanced between us for a few second, then lied, "Melissa?" I could have smacked him. If anyone liked Melissa more than Chapman, it was--

"Oh okay, then," said Rachel, visibly relaxing as her face returned to normal. Everyone else stiffened. I think we were all running through our own panicked scenarios and debates.

Finally, Ax said, <How do we defeat this Type 5… _and_ keep Rachel's 'devotion' from interfering? > For obvious Rachel-exclusion reasons, he used thoughtspeak to say it despite being in human morph again.

"Rachel, you know that… thing you wanted to do this weekend?" Jake asked.

"You mean the one you said 'no' to because 'only dirty, nasty heathens share blood'?" she asked, and I definitely did not want to know what they were talking about.

Jake grimaced. "Yes."

She shrugged. "What about it?"

He looked like he was in actual physical pain. "I changed my mind," he grunted. "Let's do it."

She shrieked. "Really?!"

Jake groaned. "Yes?" he managed to squeak out.

"Yay!" Then, she glanced at me. "Oh, but what about the Melissa mission?"

"I think we'll manage," I said. "Go… do your… blood thing."

"Sweet!" Rachel said, hopping off a haystack. "If I'm done here, then, I'm gonna go home and give Naomi a vague version of my weekend plans, and then invite Jill to come along."

"Invite Jill?" Jake repeated. "Why? She's not a vampire!"

"Don't be a jerk, Jake," she said, heading for the door. "She's not human, right?" Jake made a noise of helpless frustration.

"Remember not to tell her what Chapman said!" I reminded her.

"Of cour--" Rachel hesitated. "Do you think she'd want to know?"

The rest of us shook our heads emphatically. "Rachel, do you really think someone as cool as Jill would want to be bothered by petty little concerns like Mr. Chapman being grumpy over Melissa making friends?" Cassie asked softly, like she was bribing a small child.

Rachel smiled. "No. Of course. You're right. See you guys later!"

Cassie just kept smiling back until the door was shut and then she spun toward us. "SHE HAS BEEN LIKE THAT ALL DAY! **ALL**! **DAY**! I just-- I can't-- I didn't sign up for this!"

"Calm down," I pled. "Please. We can deal with this, okay? She's being brainwashed, and that's dangerous, but she's not lost yet. Our information isn't out." I turned to Jake. "Can you keep an eye on Rachel and Jill this weekend?" He nodded, and I turned to the others. "It's up to us to figure out how to get Melissa out of the Sharing."


	3. Meanwhile, Back at the Monster Ranch (Edriss)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My designation is Edriss five-six-two. My title is Visser One. My host at the time of this writing is called Eva.
> 
> With a little clever maneuvering, I've almost completely reclaimed my position on earth. All without giving away my motivation for it. Nonetheless, there remain a few loose threads to tie.

"Do you know how delicious the jugulars are?" I asked as I stripped the external jugular vein from the corporeal remains of a known SubHuman Type 2. "There are two, you know, and they each have their own bouquet."

Esplin made a grunting noise as he shifted his new Hork-Bajir host's weight impatiently, waiting for me to address him.

Sam grinned at me from across the examination table, his filthy boots propped up on the edge. "You remind me of a dude I knew once. Thought he was a wizard."

"You thought he was a wizard, or he thought he was a wizard?" I asked absently.

Sam looked up from his book. Then he rolled his eyes upward in a poor attempt to see the thought he couldn't quite recall. "I'm not really sure."

"Don't you have work to do?" I asked. Carefully, I burned away more flesh to reveal smaller and smaller branching.

"Jill can handle it." He returned his attention to his book.

<Where does all of that flesh go when you zap it like that?> asked my host, apparently feeling active today.

<You're breathing it,> I told her.

She did not appreciate the information. I changed the subject of my focus to Sam. "How do you intend to win the position I have in mind when you let her take all the competition?"

"Is that what I'm doing?" he said absently.

I glanced at him. Then, I smiled. Esplin cleared his throat again. "Honestly, I don't know why I have two of you," I teased. I snipped the vein free and dropped it into a sterile container, which I tossed onto his book.

"Biology," he answered, picking up the container. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"No, that is why your mother has two of you, and I am not she. Deliver it to the chemistry lab for analysis," I instructed.

"Thank the devil for that." Sam scowled at the container as he folded his book away into his bulky jacket with one hand. "Aren't there impatient, hungry Taxxons between here and there?"

"Yes." I gestured to the dirty feet on my examination table. "I do hope those are your good running boots."

Sam sighed, removed his feet from the table, and moved toward the doorway at a pace that would never outmaneuver a hungry Taxxon. He nodded to Esplin. "Your turn now, bud."

"I am your superior," Esplin reminded him.

Sam smirked at him. "Yeah, but for how long?"

<That boy is going to get himself killed,> said Eva, and I looked up from my work. "Visser Three?"

"Yes?" he said, boredom in his voice. I smelled no blood spillage. Sam must have made it through the door intact. What wonderful creatures they are.

I pushed the examination table back into the storage capsule in the wall. The platform slid in smoothly, and the legs and wheels folded away. I deposited them in a nearby cupboard after sealing the corpse into its capsule.

Finally, I returned my attention to Esplin. I told him, "I don't feel it necessary to make a speech about where you stand, Visser Three, or my position over you. We're both aware of the situation, as we have been aware of each other for some time now."

He tilted his head to look at me sideways, the best-detailed view for a Hork-Bajir. "I suppose."

"The thing is," I explained, "your impending demotion does little for me, but there are advantages to teamwork."

"Teamwork?" he repeated, voicing his incredulity as best a Hork-Bajir could.

"Yes, teamwork. Working as a team. Multiple parties benefiting each other for whatever reason they may find to do so." <How long has he been in this war?> I looked at him with pity. "It's like you've never even warred before." <Ugh, first you steal my body, and then you steal all my good snark.>

Esplin seemed skeptical, so I continued. "You got so far on knowledge and prowess. The rest you got through what your host could offer you. Your host can no longer offer you those things. Were you stationed anywhere else, this fact might could be considered irrelevant, but this world has Andalite Bandits you have thus far _barely_ managed to contain even when they were within in your custody."

His Hork-Bajir head arced back. "I still maintain that it was impossible for them to save themselves from outside of their cell."

<This again?> "There are five to six Bandits, counting the non-Andalites, including a Type 2, who cannot be seen by traditional methods. You had three. So yes, it's not only possible, it is entirely probable," I informed him. Before he could argue further, I continued, "Nonetheless, the fact remains: You need a more intimidating host, and I need someone beneath me that I find… I think we can agree on 'reliable' as a descriptor?"

Esplin snorted. "And you'd have a better host for me?"

I pulled off my gloves and dropped them in the incineration bin. "Do you even know what I do?" I gestured for him to come along as I headed toward the door. "Follow me. I have something to show you."

"Then why did I not meet you there?"

"Because I also wish to speak to you."

"I don't see why you can't--"

"Listen for once, Visser Three?" I suggested, heading down the corridors. "Just be quiet and listen. Concentrate on the things I say. Believe it or not, this actually will not work unless you are in the appropriate mental state."

He grunted. He did not believe me. I did not need him to. I only required his compliance.

I continued, "I want you to consider what will become of you if you are demoted. Demoted again and again until you return to your position at the time of War Prince Alloran's infestation. Possibly further down, now. What happens --No, quiet now. Just think on this; that's all I ask.-- What happens to your great name, all the things you could have done and could have been, if you become a nobody, a nothing, now?

"What happens if they tally up all those missing underlings? If someone decides that they're not afraid of you anymore and confesses all your dirty secrets? If a gashad is put out for you? Your life ends, your legacy ends, with one small mistake. One traitor you couldn't have helped. And then what are you supposed to do? With an ended life?"

< _This_ is the secret ingredient that's supposed to make it work this time? >

"Is there a point to this?" Esplin demanded, obviously insulted.

"I just want you to think about it," I assured him. "We're here now." I pressed in my code to open the door to the bay that held the cage that held the creature. I stepped inside, then turned to him, smiling as I saw the expression in his host. I've been around enough Hork-Bajir to learn to read them. "I thought you'd like it."

He quickly masked his expression. "It's impractical, " he argued.

<Aaaawe, don't be mean. You'll hurt it's feelings.> "You're going to turn it down on impracticality?" I mocked. "Of all things?"

He huffed. "A morph is different from a host. I can elect to use it when it's practical, and I am not stuck with it when it is not."

<It's _never_ practical, buddy. > "I understand your trepidation, Visser Three," I said, plastering a smile on my face, "but I assure you that I have made adjustments for those factors."

"What adj--?"

"Now, I wouldn't want you to feel such intimidation as to not try, now would I?" I gestured to the beast. "Just give it a whirl. You can always climb back in obedient little Kekgas here if you don't like it."

Esplin gave me the most disgusted of gazes, but he finally stepped inside the room. "Can its brain even accommodate me?"

I rolled my eyes. "Of course, I made the appropriate adjustments." I stepped back toward the door. "Just give it a try." My hand moved toward the door controls. "And think about our conversation." I shut the door between him and me and locked it.

Carger 3591 looked down at me from where he'd been waiting outside as instructed. "Ma'am?"

"The second he infests that thing, you release the Taxxons into the feeding bay," I ordered. "And Carger? I don't need tell you that this is a secret."

"Yes, ma'am, but…"

"But?"

Carger shifted his weight. "It is a secret that Sam knows."

I grumbled to myself as my host laughed in our head. "Yes, well… I'm not sure how he found out. Yet."


	4. Blood for Foul (Cassie)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My name is Cassie. I’m a guerilla fighter in a secret war against an alien invasion of the earth. They could be anyone you know. Maybe they’re you.
> 
> Which makes this the scariest thing I’ve ever done.

"Uh... Cassie... problem," said Tobias as Fluffer McKitty started shrieking from the ghost's proximity to him.

"Tobias, I told you to back off the cat," I snapped as I fiddled with the carrier to make sure Fluffer wouldn't escape again. I also had some food, treats, and an over-the-counter cat relaxer. "Not all animals take well to you. Less and less, the more powerful you get."

"Yeah, but the morph won't work."

Marco and I spun on him. Poor Marco was covered in bleeding cat-scatches from holding onto the damned animal while I double checked the carrier. He insisted it wasn't a problem because he could morph them away, but he didn't look happy. "What do you mean it won't work?" Marco demanded.

Tobias pointed at the cat's back end. "Because DNA won't include the 'modifications' Chapman made."

Marco looked confused for a moment, then held Fluffer out from him. He made a noise of frustration. "Chapman had the cat fixed! That tricky bastard!"

"I guess we shouldn't be surprised," I said. "It's remarkable the cat's even alive after last time."

Marco dumped him in the carrier. "Yeah, I guess that confirms our suspicions that something wacky is going on in the Chapman house. I mean, why else keep a cover-killer in your own house aside from the fact that Melissa lurves it so much?"

It still seemed so odd. And gave me questions about the Yeerks that my friends didn't seem willing to find answers on. Chapman was a high-ranking Controller, from what we could tell. According to Temrash's memories, the only reason he hadn't pursued Jake and Rachel as potential hosts was that the Yeerks didn't currently have the resources to force cooperation. We'd assumed, _if_ Melissa really was free, that she fell in the same category.

But now… I had my doubts. If Melissa was pulled in via a succubus's power and the Sharing's promises, then she wouldn't resist any more strongly than any other vampire-Controller, right? So what was special about her? What reason could Chapman possibly have to demand her exclusion? To demand it in such a way as to keep it secret from his peers?

The only obvious answer was the most disturbing. The relationship between Melissa and the host Chapman. But what did it mean? Where was the boundary between Controller and Controlled?

"We'll just have to hope that Melissa doesn't notice," said Marco. Behind him, Ax landed on the sill as a Northern Harrier.

<I have confirmed that the adult Controllers have left the house,> he said, demorphing quickly. <The Controller Hedrick Chapman mentioned that they were going to a ferry? Do you think that will take long enough?>

I frowned. "I'm not sure there's any ferries around here," I said.

"It's code for the Bug fighters going to the Mothership," said Tobias. "I've heard others use it."

"Good," said Marco. "That means we can do this tonight." He pulled his jacket on. "Okay, everyone knows what to do?"

Tobias disappeared, and I started morphing into Melissa's cat. White and black fur spread across my skin. My ears shifted up and changed shape. My spine grew out into a tail. My hands shrank down to tiny paws. Inside my fingers, I felt the growth of my secret weapon: vicious, retractable claws.

By the window, Ax had finally demorphed and was awkwardly losing his legs, arms, and stalk eyes before anything else. A mouth split open across his face but the jaw quickly stretched out further into a flat, triangular head, armed with fangs that should make Rachel jealous, not to mention the poison those fangs came equipped with.

When we were done, Marco scooped Ax up into his pocket and then pulled me into his arms. <I'm going to act drowsy. Then, you can tell her that you drugged the cat into compliance instead of me having to keep fighting you.>

"I am loving that idea," he said, scratching me behind the ear as he walked toward the door. He stopped before it though, hesitating.

<Nervous?>

"Just waiting to see if I puke. It would be rude to do that at her house."

I reminded him, <You've got werewolf blood in your veins to keep her from biting you, a hostage to force distance with, a snake to defend yourself with, and a ghost running backup.>

"She's still a big scary vampire, though, okay?" he groaned. "You've seen what Rachel can do."

<But that's Rachel. There's a reason Melissa worships her, okay? She may be a vampire, but she's also a little girl. Relax. We can do this. It's a good plan.>

Marco nodded, took a deep breath, and opened the door of the abandoned house. A different house than we usually used just in case anyone saw him walking out of it. I guess there's high turnover in vampire neighborhoods. He crossed the street and then walked down the block to Melissa's house.

He knocked on the door.

He knocked again.

He kn--

"WHAT?" Melissa demanded, throwing the door open. Then, she saw him. "Ew." Then, she saw me. "What the fuck are you doing with my cat, Spot?"

"I'm just insuring that you listen to me all the way through," Marco said. "I'll give it back after."

She eyed her cat suspiciously. "He's awfully calm."

"He might be a little drugged," Marco admitted. "Just over the counter stuff."

Melissa was not remotely happy about this revelation. "You have one minute, dogshit."

"Jill, she's a succubus," he said. "I know you don't want to hear this because you're under her spell, but we think being separated from her for a while should help. We hope anyway. Jake is concerned because she's got power over both you and Rachel. He can't convince Rachel away from her. So I'm telling you, up front, what the deal is."

I'd expected Melissa's eyes to go black. I expected her to call him a liar. To threaten him. To tell him what an amazing person Jill was. Instead, she asked, "Is that all?"

Marco's eyebrows went up. "The fact that you're being controlled beyond your will? Yeah, that's all."

"Give me my cat."

Marco set me down, and I immediately raced around the corner so Melissa wouldn't take me inside. I waited there out of view.

Melissa groaned. "Oh my god, that's not even my cat," she groaned. She turned back to Marco. "Do you think you can make it off my yard without marking?"

"Yes," Marco replied, sounding entirely unamused.

"Then do." And she slammed the door in his face.

<That went better than expected,> I said.

Ax argued <I do not believe our Melissa problem is solved> as Marco walked them back to the abandoned house Fluffer was in.

<Yeah, but we're not dead.> I pointed out.

Marco nodded in agreement. "I guess I have to go bail Jake now," he muttered, supposedly to himself.

* * *

For the house party, Ax morphed rattlesnake again, and I morphed owl. Jake had warned us that Marco and Tobias were the only ones who would be able to move freely through the throng of vampires.

Even as a bird flying over the large house at the edge of town, I could smell the stench of blood. <Marco, watch yourself. This place is definitely dangerous.>

Marco shuffled in his pocket, and for a minute, I thought he was trying to get Ax out, but I saw him pull out a pocket knife. He unfolded the blade and then held it in his hand so that it stayed pressed against his veins, prepared to bleed on them at a moment's notice. I wondered how long he'd thought about this. About the ins and outs of surviving vampires.

Was this something I was supposed to be doing?

Marco entered through the front door, and I lost sight of him. I flew around the house and the property and finally caught sight of Rachel in the backyard with Jill, hanging off of her like a puppy. At the very least, Jill looked annoyed by it. Apparently, her control wasn't perfect. I could see blood on Rachel's mouth, but Jill didn't appear to be wounded.

<Marco, can you hear me?> I asked, perching on a branch near them. <I've located Rachel outside by the pool. She's with Jill and still affected, but I think Jill will send her away with you if you play your cards right.>

Within minutes, Marco was dragging Jake out the back door. And I mean dragging. It was like he'd had his batteries taken out. His eyes looked at nothing, his arms hung loose, and his legs moved only to support him.

Jill.

Suddenly, I understood Jake's reaction when he realized that Rachel had fallen under her control. This monster was taking my friends down one by one.

Wait.

<Marco! Are you even safe? She's affected both Jake and Rachel, and-->

Marco shrugged in reply. There was nothing to be done about it. He had to go get Rachel. I started looking around for a good place to demorph, but there wasn't any. The place was crawling with vampires crawling all over each other.

The things Rachel did in her spare time.

Marco stopped in front of them. "Rachel, Jake is ready to go. Why don't you come on?"

She pouted. "What? But we just got here!"

Jill snickered at Marco. "I don't think Jake wants for anything right now, do you, baby?" she said, reaching out to stroke Jake's cheek, but Marco pulled him back so hard that he fell onto his butt. Jill laughed. "I could make him want though." She turned to Rachel. "Wouldn't you be happier if your cousin was finally like you?"

Rachel looked confused. "Would that make you happy?"

<Marco, don't let her make Jake drink blood!>

Marco looked sick, horrified. "Why are you doing this?" he demanded. "Why are you controlling them?"

"Why shouldn't I?" she demanded. "You know it happens whether I want it to or not, right? It's been happening since birth. I was a _baby_ when they started to fight over me. When they started to steal me because they wanted me so bad. Why can't I use it for myself? Why isn't that allowed?"

<Oh my god…>

But she wasn't done. She was raging now. "You're the masters of it. Ultimately, you're the ones who chose what you want of me. Why else should my ability affect on a basis of sexuality? Because you're thinking about it. You're deciding. And yet you people throw around the word 'inhumane' like it means something, but you're _all_ like this. Every one of you. And I hope they burn this planet down." She was in tears as she said it. I think she'd been waiting a long time for someone to ask that question.

<Marco, I don't think she's a Controller.>

"Okay. Just… Just give Rachel back…" Marco urged. "Please."

"No." Jill shook her head. "You have no idea what she'll do for me."

"I have an idea what _I'll_ do for you, succubus bitch," Melissa said, shoving her way through the crowd to get to Jill.

Jill spun to face Melissa. She made a rude noise. "Melissa! I thought you weren--"

"Shut up," Melissa snapped. "I'm gonna tell you something because you're new in town, and apparently no one gave you Monster 101. Rule number fucking one? Don't mess with the Chapmans."

"I think you're over-reacting," said Jill, and Rachel's eyes went black. <No, Rachel, don't,> I urged. <I don't think Jill wants a fight right now.>

"Are you sure?" asked Rachel.

"Yes, I'm sure," Jill said. "I didn't do anything wrong!"

Melissa laughed at her. "You know what? That's what that huntress said after she made my dad go missing for almost a decade. She claimed she didn't even know who I was. Now, she doesn't see too well. The point is, Jill, that I don't care if you did _wrong_. I am not your spiritual leader. You have pissed me off, and you need to be held responsible for that."

Jill didn't seem to think the situation was so funny anymore. "But… you love me…"

"You obviously haven't known vampires very long," Melissa mocked her. She glanced at Rachel, and, maybe it was just me, but she looked a little sad. "Love has never stopped us." She returned her attention to Jill. "So give it to me. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you."

Jill's mouth worked helplessly. Open and shut and open again. Trying to find the words. Finally, she said, "There's an alien space invasion and--"

Melissa snapped her neck.

Jill's body fell to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. Rachel and Jake groaned and rubbed their eyes. Marco stared in shock. "This is the part where you leave," Melissa ordered.

Rachel stepped forward, reaching for her. "Melissa, I--"

Melissa shoved her away sharply. "Don't."

<Come on guys,> I urged, taking flight again, and Marco pulled Jake and Rachel away from the scene. Eventually, vampires started descending on the "free food," but Melissa just kept standing there. She was almost out of my view before I saw her move again.


End file.
